They tested a 7-day work week. Have employees changed their habits?
One of the British companies gave employees the opportunity to work throughout the week, as long as they worked 32 hours during that time. We know the results of the experiment.
A year has passed since the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Policy launched recruitment for a pilot program of shortened working time while maintaining remuneration. Only during the first week, 150 applications were received, and ultimately there were almost 2,000 of them. Ultimately, 90 employers, employing a total of over 5,000 people, received the opportunity to test shorter working hours. The pilot was launched at the beginning of this year.
7-day working week, but for 32 hours
Meanwhile, the British tested a model of a 32-hour working week spread flexibly over 7 days a week. Instead of a rigid schedule, employees decide when they work.
Such an experiment was used by a small British consulting company, Lumen. – The idea of a 32-hour work week is to go a step further than the flexibility offered by a four-day work week. – Aled Nelmes, CEO, explained to the media.
The new rules are simple: regardless of whether they come to work two, three, four or seven days a week, employees can organize their working week according to their own preferences. They are not bound by strict starting or ending hours, although as Nelmes emphasizes: “We would never hire someone who only wants to work 16 hours in two days.”
What are the results of the experiment? After three months, it turned out that most employees had changed surprisingly little in their schedules. They maintained standard working hours, although some introduced small, individual changes, such as working on Sundays. – Too often we micromanage our employees’ daily lives. We assume they have to work a certain way to be productive. But that’s not true. We don’t really know how it works, and we have to leave it up to each individual to decide – sums up the head of Lumen.
